New Beginnings

By PSUBrat

Discoveries

The pounding on the door was getting louder and more intense as the man on the bed tried to remember where he was. He tried to open his eyes but found it too difficult. His mouth was dry and the room was spinning, not to mention that he felt like he had cobwebs for brains. Finally he squinted to look at the clock. "Whoever you are," he yelled, "it's after bleeding midnight. A bloke needs his sleep!"

"Open this door immediately or I'll break it down," the voice on the other side demanded.

"Rupert," the man asked, "is that you?"

"You know bloody well it's me. Now open this door. I've been pounding on it for the last ten minutes."

"Keep your shirt on mate," he said as he stumbled around the room trying to get to the door. There was no way he could walk a straight line at this particular moment. He was still extremely pissed. After several failed attempts at unlocking the door, he finally got his fingers to work. He stepped back into the room as he opened the door to a highly agitated Rupert Giles.

"Dawn was here," Giles said as he barged into the room. He turned around and looked at the disheveled man standing before him, "Are you drunk?"

"I'm not exactly coherent at the moment. I could have sworn you just said that Dawn was here." He was swaying back and forth.

"I did. She was."

"Are you sure?" He asked incredulously.

"I'm quite certain."

"When? I mean, how?"

"Tonight. And she can indeed open portals like the prophecy predicted. Somehow she opened a portal here."

The man sat down hard on his bed. His mind was starting to clear but the room still was still moving. "Let me get this straight," he said blinking hard trying to adjust his eyes to the light Giles had just turned on, "Dawn, Buffy's Dawn, can open portals and she was here? Tonight?"

"Precisely. I talked to Buffy this evening right after a portal had appeared in their kitchen."

The man's eyes widened despite the brightness of the light. "And you're certain this portal opened here? How?"

"I'm not exactly clear on the how but I'm certain it was here. She described this room and the items in it. Additionally," he said looking towards the desk, "she saw a picture of Buffy on your desk."

"Brilliant," the man said hanging his head. He knew he was going to have one massive hangover in the morning.

***

After Xander and Dawn had gone back to the Magic Box, Buffy had made herself a sandwich and headed towards the couch. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels in a daze. Nothing interesting seemed to be on in the afternoons. No wonder she hung out at the Magic Shop all the time. She got up and walked over to the entertainment center to browse the videos. One tape in particular caught her eye. When had Dawn started taping Passions? She shook her head and popped the tape into the VCR.

"Let's see what all the fuss is about," she said yawning. "So this is the infamous Timmy? He doesn't look like a doll. He looks like a real boy," she said to the room with a laugh. "Zombies? Where do they come up with this stuff?" She was starting to understand why Spike liked this show so much. It was twisted. With that thought she closed her eyes and started to drift off into sleep.

***

The man continued to hang his head while he massaged his temples. He was still drunk and not even the revelation of Dawn's portal jumping could shake him out of this stupor.

"She took your guide book," Giles said sighing.

"Mine? But it's right here," he started as he slowly got up to look at his desk. He went to reach for it but it wasn't there. He shook his head to clear his mind. It still wasn't there. He looked on the floor and underneath the desk. "Not on my desk." He leaned over and put his hands on the desk for support. He looked over at Giles and stared at him.

"I'm not sure how. But this proves she was here."

"It doesn't prove anything, Rupert. Other than the fact that I can't think straight. Maybe I lent it to one of the blokes down the hall." As he straightened up, he noticed the necklace that Geoffrey had placed on the surface of his desk. Slowly, he picked up the necklace to study it. It was Dawn's. No doubt. "You're right," he said walking over to Giles.

"What changed your mind?" Giles asked perplexed.

"This," the man said as he took Giles' hand and placed Dawn's necklace in it.

Giles looked down at the gold chain in his hand and then looked back over at the man who handed it to him.

***

The sun was shining brightly over Buffy's head as she walked through the sand. Holding her hand up to shield her eyes, she squinted to see what, if anything, might be on the horizon. She noticed that she was dressed in a long white flowing tunic with white scarves fluttering in the wind. Her hair was loose around her face. It had grown since Spike had left. He had always loved her long hair, that's why she had chopped it off. To spite him.

She continued walking barefoot in the sand, not really knowing where she was going but knowing she needed to keep moving. She paused when she reached the opening of a cave.

"You don't want to go in there Slayer," a voice said from behind her.

She spun around in slow motion. There, before her, stood Spike. He walked over to her as she stared at him. His blue eyes burned through her. She tried to break away from his gaze but found she couldn't. Her eyes fixed on his body and how tan and fit it looked. He was in his usual pair of faded jeans, no shirt or shoes.

"There's all kinds of beasties in there Slayer. Just waiting to get you," he said concerned.

"I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but are you ready?" He continued to gaze deeply into her eyes. He slowly lifted his hand and caressed her cheek.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his touch on her skin. "Where have you been?" She asked in a whisper as she opened her eyes. She noticed that his hair wasn't blonde any longer but a sandy color.

"I've been right here all along. I'll always watch over you, Buffy. I love you."

Before she could tell him how she felt, suddenly Spike disappeared and she was left alone. "Spike? Spike where are you? Please come back." She looked around at the vastness of the desert. Nothing was near her. As she turned around to face the cave, she could see a light emanating from within.

"Hello," she called out as she made her way inside. "Spike?" No one answered her. She continued walking.

"I knew you'd come," a voice said to her from the shadows, "I've been waiting for you."

"Show yourself," she demanded.

"You already know who I am," the voice said, "You just don't want to admit it. Does the thought frighten you?"

"I've died twice. Nothing scares me anymore."

"But you will be scared," he said as he stepped out of the shadows and grabbed her by the shoulders.

She tried to struggle free from his grip but couldn't. He leaned over her shoulder so that she could see his face. Her eyes widened in fear. "You're dead," she managed to finally say.

He smiled at her and grazed her neck with his teeth. "You of all people should know that death can be temporary." He wrapped one strong arm around her body and with his other he pushed her head to the side, exposing her neck. "Any last words," he asked as he sunk his teeth into her jugular and began to savor the taste of her.

***

"Buffy! No," the man shouted as he woke up from the nightmare. Giles had finally left him to sleep about an hour before. His head was pounding and his body was shaking. This nightmare meant something, he was sure of it. Without a second thought he retrieved his journal from the desk and started writing furiously, making sure that he included as many details as possible. Once he was satisfied that he had properly recorded everything, he closed the journal and turned out the light. He was hoping that he would be able to fall back to sleep but he found it difficult as he replayed the nightmare over and over in his head.

***

When Dawn arrived at home she found Buffy sound asleep on the couch. She walked over to her sister and gently covered her with a blanket. It looked as if Buffy had been crying in her sleep. Dawn was concerned about her. She was convinced that Buffy was going to drive herself insane denying her feelings for Spike. Why is it that people always realize what they have once it's gone?

After showering and dressing in something sensible, she went down to the kitchen to leave Buffy a note. Steven was supposed to pick her up soon so she figured she would wait on the porch. That way they wouldn't disturb Buffy's sleep. She gently closed the front door behind her as she stepped out into the night air. Steven was just rounding the corner and heading towards her house. She sat down on the steps to wait for him.

"Hey," he said with a smile when he reached the steps.

"Hi," she said blushing. Again with the blushing.

"Wanna go get something to eat?" He asked as he took a seat next to her on the steps.

"Sure…let's go for a walk first though. I just got home from work, and I'd like a break from people for a little while..."

"Okay. Come on," he said standing up. He reached out his hand and helped her up. He pulled a little too hard and she almost stumbled on top of him.

"Sorry," she said as he grabbed her to keep her from falling.

"My fault," he whispered as he looked into her eyes.

Their faces were so close Dawn could feel his breath on her cheek. As she was about to say something, he closed the distance and kissed her. She returned the kiss enthusiastically. Her knees started to shake and she thought she was going to sink to the ground. It seemed to last forever. Finally they broke it off so that they could both breathe.

"That was, uhm, really nice," Dawn said breathlessly.

He smiled and took her hand in his. "Let's walk."

***

They walked along in a comfortable silence for a while. Dawn was still giddy about the kiss and wanted to make sure she didn't say anything dumb before she was back in control of her brain. He had finally kissed her. Not on her forehead or cheek like he usually did before saying goodnight, but a full kiss on the lips. Her first totally real kiss. It was better than she ever imagined it would be.

Steven looked over at Dawn. She had been silent since they had left her place. He smiled to himself. Obviously, the kiss had been a good thing to do. Things were going very smoothly. Despite the fact that he had intended to use Dawn to get to know Buffy, he enjoyed being around the girl. Unexpectedly, sounds of a struggle came to his ears. He looked around, searching for it.

"What? What's wrong?" Dawn asked as he tightened his grip around her hand.

"I don't know. I thought I heard something."

"I-I don't hear anything," Dawn stammered looking around the darkened street.

"Shhhh," he whispered to her. He closed his eyes and listened intently for the sounds. It was coming towards them at a fast pace. "Run," he shouted to her as he started running.

Dawn was confused but she started running with him. She hadn't heard anything but by the look on his face she knew he was serious. Then she heard it. She looked over her shoulder as they continued to run. A vampire was catching up to them. She knew that they couldn't out run it but she also knew that if she stopped to stake it, she would have to reveal herself to Steven. She wasn't ready to do that yet.

Instead of having to weigh her options and consider the consequences, Steven stopped abruptly and pulled her behind him. "Dawn, stay here and don't move," he commanded.

Dawn watched in awe as Steven started sparring with the vampire. As the vampire lunged at him, he used a roundhouse kick to knock it off its feet. The vampire grabbed Steven's leg and knocked him off balance. He landed face first on the ground but spun around in time to miss the vampire's kick. Steven landed a kick to the vampire's chest, once again knocking him to the ground.

"Steven," Dawn yelled as she pulled the stake out of her jacket, "Catch!"

He caught the stake handily and plunged it into the vampire's chest. It exploded into dust as he looked over at Dawn.

"H-How did you learn to fight like that?" Dawn asked in amazement.

"My father taught me."

"But you're really fast, almost as fast as," her words trailed off.

"As Buffy?" He asked with a grin.

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